VRTMENT   OF    AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS, 
A.  C.  TRUE,   Director. 


(\\\    W  UYIPU    lYTTQTIPlTlflYO 

AM)  UliAlXM  IMLMlliAl  )m 


OF  THE 


OFFICE  OF  EXPEP,nn-:XT   STATIOXS, 

U.   S.    DEPARTMENT   OF    AGRICULTURE. 


BY. 


K. 


Editoiial  Assistant,  <)jji<-i;  ,  -  •((ions. 


GOVKKN  .M  i:  NT     PRINT  TN<;     OFFICE. 

1904. 


LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS  ON 
IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE. 

NOTE. — For  those  publications  to  which  a  price  is  affixed  application  should  be 
made  to  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington, 
D.  C. ,  the  officer  designated  by  law  to  sell  Government  publications.  Publications 
marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  are  not  available  for  distribution. 

*Bul.    36.  Notes  on  Irrigation  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey.     By  C.  S.  Phelps  and 

E.  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  64.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    58.  Water  Rights  on  the  Missouri  River  and  its  Tributaries.     By  El  wood  Mead. 

Pp.  80.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    60.  Abstract  of  Laws  for  Acquiring  Titles  to  Water  from  the  Missouri  River 

and  its  Tributaries,  with  the  Legal  Forms  in  Use.     Compiled  by  El  wood 

Mead.     Pp.  77.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    70.  Water-Right  Problems  of  Bear  River.     By  Clarence  T.  Johnston  and 

Joseph  A.  Breckons.     Pp.  40.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.    73.  Irrigation  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  States.    By  J.  C.  Ulrich.    Pp.64.    Price, 

10  cents. 

Bui.    81.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation  in  Wyoming.     By  B.  C.  Buffum.     Pp.  56. 

Price,  10  cents. 
*Bul.    86.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.     Report  of  investigations  made  in  1899, 

under  the  supervision  of  El  wood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T. 

Johnston,  assistant.     Pp.  253.     Price,  30  cents. 
Bui.    87.  Irrigation  in  New  Jersey.     By  Edward  B.  Voorhees.     Pp.  40.     Price,  5 

cents. 

*Bul.    90.  Irrigation  in  Hawaii.     By  Walter  Maxwell.     Pp.  48.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.    92.  The  Reservoir  System  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  Valley.    By  E.  S.  Nettleton. 

Pp.  48.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.    96.  Irrigation  Laws  of  the  Northwest  Territories. of  Canada  and  of  Wyoming, 

with  Discussions  by  J.  S.  Dennis,  Fred  Bond,  and  J.  M.  Wilson.     Pp.  90. 

Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.  100.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  in  California,  under  the  direction  of 

El  wood  Mead,  assisted  by  William  E.  Smythe,  Marsden  Hanson,  J.  M. 

Wilson,  Charles  D.  Marx,  Frank  Soule,  C.  E.  Grunsky,  Edward  M.  Boggs, 

and  James  D.  Schuyler.     Pp.  411.     Price,  cloth,  $1.25;  paper,  90  cents. 
*Bul.  104.  The  Use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.     Report  of  investigations  made  in  1900, 

under  the  supervision  of  Elwood  Mead,  expert  in  charge,  and  C.  T. 

Johnston,  assistant.     Pp.  334.     Price,  50  cents. 
Bui.  105.  Irrigation  in  the  United  States.     Testimony  of  Elwood  Mead,  irrigation 

expert  in  charge,  before  the  United  States  Industrial  Commission  June 

11  and  12,  1901.     Pp.  47.     Price,  15  cents. 

Bui.  108.  Irrigation  Practice  among  Fruit  Growers  on  the  Pacific  Coast.     By  E.  J. 

Wickson.     Pp.  54.     Price,  15  cents. 
Bui.  113.  Irrigation  of  Rice  in  the  United  States.     By  Frank  Bond  and  George  II. 

Kcnicy.     Pp.77.     Price,  30  cents. 
Bui.  118.  Irrigation  from  Big  Thompson  River.    By  John  E.  Field.    Pp.  75.    Price, 

10  cents. 

*Bul.  119.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  for  1901,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 
Mead,  chief.     Pp.  401.     Price,  50  cents. 

[Continued  on  third  page  of  cover.] 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT   STATIONS, 
A.  C.  TRUE,   Director. 


IRRIGATION  AM  DRAINAGE  INffiTOiTIONS 


OF  THE 


OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS, 

U.  S.  DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 


BY 


R.  P.  TEELE, 

/ » 

Jllituri.n.1  Ay*i.«tifiit,   C)ti:re  nf  Kepi  f'nm 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVKKNMEXT     PRINTING     OFFIf'K 

1904. 


AGRIC.  DEPL 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS 

A.  C.  TRUE,  Ph.  D.,  Director. 

E.  W.  ALLEN,  Ph.  D.,  Assistant  Director. 

IRRIGATION    INVESTIGATIONS. 

ELWOOD  MEAD,  Chief. 
R.  P.  TEELE,  Editorial  Assistant. 
C.  E.  TAIT,  Assistant,  in  Charge  of  Central  District. 
SAMUEL  FORTIER,  Irrigation  Engineer,  in  Charge  of  Pacific  District. 
C.  G.  ELLIOTT,  Engineer,  in  Charge  of  Drainage  Investigations, 
2 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

OFFICE  OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  July  5,  1904. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  and  recommend  for 
publication  a  brief  account  of  the  irrigation  and  drainage  investiga- 
tions of  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations.  This  account  is  intended 
primarily  for  distribution  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  in 
connection  with  the  exhibits  of  this  Office  in  the  Government  building 
and  of  the  agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations  in  the  Palace 
of  Education. 

Respectfully,  A.  C.  TRUE, 

Director. 
Hon.  JAMES  WILSON. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


337241 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Historical 5 

Need  of  irrigation  and  drainage  in  the  United  States 7 

The  irrigation  investigations 8 

Duty  of  water 9 

Legal  and  economic  problems 14 

Pumping  for  irrigation 17 

Irrigation  in  the  semiarid  region 18 

Irrigation  in  the  humid  region 19 

Composition  of  the  water  used  in  irrigation 20 

The  drainage  investigations 22 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

PLATE    I.  Cement-lined  canal,  California 10 

II.  Pumping  water  from  bayou  for  rice  irrigation 18 

FIG.  1.  The  Wyoming  nilometer 11 

2.  Friez  water  register  No.  2 12 

3.  Water  register  manufactured  for  the  Department  (side  view) 13 

4.  Diagram  showing  the  relation  between  the  rainfall  of  parts  of  Italy 

and  that  of  humid  sections  of  Eastern  United  States 20 

5.  Water-sample  trap -.  -I 


IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE  INVESTIGATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE 
OF  EXPERIMENT  STATIONS,  UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT 
OF  AGRICULTURE. 


By  R.  P.  TEELE,  Editorial  Assistant. 


HISTORICAL. 

The  irrigation  investigations  of  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations 
were  first  provided  for  in  the  agricultural  appropriation  act  of  1898, 
which  contained  an  item  of  $10,000  "for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
from  agricultural  colleges,  agricultural  experiment  stations,  and  other 
sources  *  * -  *  valuable  information  and  data  on  the  subject  of 
irrigation,  and  publishing  the  same  in  bulletin  form.'-  The  general 
supervision  of  this  work  was  assigned  to  the  Office  of  Experiment 
Stations.  In  order  to  determine  the  -lines  of  information  most  valu- 
able to  the  regions  where  irrigation  is  necessary,  a  conference  of 
experiment  station  officers  and  irrigation  engineers  who  had  been 
prominently  connected  with  western  irrigation  development  was  held 
in  Denver,  Colo.,  July  12  and  13,  1897,  and  was  attended  by  officers 
of  the  experiment  stations  of  California,  Colorado,  Montana,  Nebraska, 
Utah,  and  Wyoming,  and  by  the  State  engineers  of  Colorado,  Nebraska, 
and  Wyoming,  besides  representatives  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  At  this  conference  it  was  decided  that  the  best 
results  could  be  obtained  by  carrying  out  this  work  along  two  general 
lines:  (1)  The  collection  and  publication  of  information  regarding  the 
laws  and  institutions  of  the  irrigated  region  in  their  relation  to  agricul- 
ture, and  (2)  the  publication  of  available  information  regarding  the  use 
of  irrigation  waters  in  agriculture  as  shown  by  the  actual  experience  of 
farmers  and  by  experimental  investigations,  and  the  encouragement 
of  further  investigations  in  this  line  by  the  experiment  stations.  The 
work  was  organized  according  to  these  suggestions,  and  was,  there- 
fore, divided  into  two  classes,  the  legal  and  economic,  and  the  cultural. 
Following  the  conference,  the  work  was  placed  under  the  direct  charge 
of  Elwood  Mead,  at  that  time  State  engineer  of  Wyoming.  This 
action  was  indorsed  by  Congress  at  its  next  session,  when  it  provided 
for  the  investigation  of  (1)  u  the  laws  and  institutions  relating  to  irriga- 
tion" and  (2)  "the  use  of  irrigation  waters,  with  especial  suggestions 


6 


for  be^er'mettibds  £or  the  utilization  of  irrigation  waters  in  agriculture 
than  those  in  common  use."  The  appropriation  for  the  work  was 
increased  to  $35,000. 

The  original  law  provided  for  the  collection  of  information  from 
the  agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations  and  the  law  for  the 
succeeding  year  authorized  the  stations  to  cooperate  with  the  Depart- 
ment in  the  investigation  of  the  subjects  specified.  In  accordance  with 
the  law,  the  work  has  been  very  largely  done  in  cooperation,  to  the 
great  advantage  of  both  the  stations  and  the  Department.  A  small 
amount  of  financial  assistance  from  the  Department  has  enabled  the 
stations  to  extend  their  experiments  in  irrigation,  while  the  money 
thus  spent  brought  to  the  Department  larger  returns  than  could  be 
secured  in  any  other  way,  since  it  secured  the  use  of  the  lands  and 
equipments  of  the  stations  free  of  cost  and  the  services  of  their 
investigators  by  paying  only  small  parts  of  their  salaries.  Thus  the 
Department  secured  for  a  few  hundred  dollars  the  making  of  experi- 
ments which  would  have  cost  as  many  thousands  of  dollars  if  carried 
on  independently  of  the  stations. 

For  the  years  ending  June  30,  1901,  and  June  30,  1902,  the  appro- 
priation was  increased  to  $50,000,  but  the  work  authorized  was  not 
changed.  For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  the  appropriation  was 
increased  to  $65,000,  and  the  work  was  considerably  enlarged.  The 
added  work  provided  for  included  studies  of  (1)  the  laws  affecting  the 
rights  of  riparian  proprietors;  (2)  the  use  of  irrigation  waters  abroad 
as  well  as  at  home;  (3)  plans  for  the  removal  of  seepage  and  surplus 
waters  by  drainage;  and  (4)  the  use  of  different  kinds  of  power  for 
irrigation  and  other  agricultural  purposes.  In  the  act  making  appro- 
priations for  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1905  the  growing 
importance  of  drainage  studies  was  recognized  by  a  change  of  the  title 
of  the  investigations  to  "Irrigation  and  drainage  investigations,"  and 
an  increase  in  the  appropriation,  the  section  providing  for  this  reading 
as  follows: 

IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE  INVESTIGATIONS:  To  enable  the  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture to  investigate  and  report  upon  the  laws  of  the  States  and  Territories  as  affecting 
irrigation  and  the  rights  of  appropriate rs  and  of  riparian  proprietors  and  institutions 
relating  to  irrigation  and  upon  the  use  of  irrigation  waters,  at  home  and  abroad;  with 
especial  suggestions  of  the  best  methods  for  the  utilization  of  irrigation  waters  in 
agriculture,  and  upon  plans  for  the  removal  of  seepage  and  surplus  waters  by  drain- 
age, and  upon  the  use  of  different  kinds  of  power  and  appliances  for  irrigation  and 
drainage,  and  for  the  preparation,  printing,  and  illustration  of  reports  and  bulletins 
on  irrigation  and  drainage,  including  employment  of  labor  in  the  city  of  Washington 
or  elsewhere;  and  the  agricultural  experiment  stations  are  hereby  authorized  and 
directed  to  cooperate  with  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  in  carrying  out  said  investi- 
gations in  such  manner  and  to  such  extent  as  may  be  warranted  by  a  due  regard  to 
the  varying  conditions  and  needs  and  laws  of  the  respective  States  and  Territories 
as  may  be  mutually  agreed  upon,  and  all  necessary  expenses,  sixty-seven  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars. 


NEED  OF  IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  rainfall  over  one-third  of  the  United  States  is  so  scanty  that 
irrigation  is  a  necessity  to  the  proti table  growth  of  agricultural  crops. 
In  other  sections  of  the  count ry  there  is  an  area  equal  in  size  to  all 
New  England,  with  Indiana  added,  which  is  so  wet  that  crops  can  not 
be  grown  at  all,  and  where  settlement  and  cultivation  must  be  post- 
poned until  the  land  has  been  diked  and  drained. 

In  the  fifteen  States  and  Territories  of  the  arid  region  irrigation  is 
the  fundamental  agricultural  problem,  because  the  very  existence  of 
civilized  life  depends  in  large  measure  on  the  ability  to  use  rivers  for 
this  purpose.  In  these  States  the  production  of  a  cheap  and  abundant 
home  food  supply,  made  possible  by  irrigation,  has  increased  the 
comfort  and  lessened  the  cost  of  living,  and  contributed  in  a  greater 
degree  than  any  other  single  cause  to  their  continued'  growth  and 
prosperity.  B}T  it  desert  wastes  have  been  transformed  into  the  most 
productive,  healthful,  and  beautiful  habitations  of  man  to  be  found  on 
this  continent.  The  cities  of  Denver,  Salt  Lake,  Los  Angeles,  and, 
many  others  of  lesser  note  are  as  much  the  creation  of  irrigation  as 
the  orchards  and  farms  which  surround  them,  and  all  depend  for 
existence  upon  water  and  the  institutions  which  govern  its  ownership 
and  use. 

In  many  humid  sections  of  the  country  high-priced  land  and 
intensive  methods  of  cultivation  are  making  of  irrigation  a  factor  of 
continually  increasing  value  and  importance,  and  it  would  seem  that 
the  experience  of  the  United  States,  like  that  of  Europe,  will  prove 
that  no  agent  of  agriculture  or  horticulture  is  so  effective  in  increasing 
and  insuring  large  3rields  as  the  ability  to  apply  water  in  the  right 
amount  and  at  the  right  time. 

There  are  large  areas  of  land  which  always  receive  too  much  water,; 
large  areas  which  never  receive  enough,  and  yet  larger  areas  which 
have  sometimes  too  much  and  sometimes  too  little  water.  Onty  by 
proper  control  of  the  water  supph'  can  these  lands  be  made  to  produce 
the  best  crops,  and  such  a  control  includes  both  irrigation  and  drain- 
age, some  lands  needing  one,  some  the  other,  and  some  needing  both. 
The  greater  part  of  the  land  now  farmed  in  the  United  States  belongs 
to  the  last  class.  The  experiments  made  l>y  this  Office  and  the  expe- 
rience of  farmers  and  gardeners  show  that  irrigation  in  dry  years, 
even  in  the  regions  of  heaviest  average  'rainfall,  much  more  than 
repays  the  cost  of  supplying  the  water.  In  these  regions  crops  are  as 
often  drowned  out  as  burned  out,  and  it  is  probable  that  drainage  to 
remove  water  in  wet  years  will  prove  as  profitable  as  irrigation  in  dry 
year^. 

The  area  of  land  in  the  United  States  east  of  the  one  hundredth 
meridian  which  is  too  wet  for  agricultural  use  but  which  can  be  reclaimed 


8 

by  drainage  has  been  estimated  by  Prof.  N.  S.  Shaler  at  from  105,000 
to  131,000  square  miles/'  or  from  67,200,000  to  83,840,000  acres.  It 
is  a  notable  fact  that  this  is  practically  the  same  as  the  estimates  of 
the  area  which  can  be  reclaimed  by  irrigation;  that  is,  the  area  east  of 
the  one  hundredth  meridian  which  can  be  reclaimed  by  drainage  equals 
that  west  of  that  line  which  can  be  reclaimed  by  irrigation.  These 
wet  lands  have  received  for  centuries  the  alluvial  deposits  from  the 
streams  which  overflow  them  and  the  vegetable  mold  from  the  rank 
growth  which  covers  them,  so  that  when  relieved  of  their  surplus 
water  they  are  among  our  most  productive  lands,  competent  authority 
estimating  their  productive  capacit}7  as  being  four  times  that  of  the 
State  of  Illinois. 

The  irrigation  and  drainage  investigations  of  the  Office  of  Experi- 
ment Stations  were  established  by  Congress  to  study  the  best  methods 
of  utilizing  these  two  aids  to  agriculture,  to  determine  the  best 
methods  of  securing,  distributing,  and  applying  water  to  land  when 
it  is  too  dry,  and  of  removing  water  from  land  when  it  is  too  wet. 
The  following  pages  will  give  a  brief  outline  of  the  work  which  is 
being  carried  on,  and  of  some  of  the  results  which  have  been  secured. 

THE   IRRIGATION   INVESTIGATIONS. 

While  accurate  statistics  are  lacking,  it  is  certain  that  more  than 
$200,000,000  has  been  expended  in  the  United  States  in  the  construc- 
tion of  canals  and  reservoirs  for  distributing  water  in  irrigation  and 
in  preparing  land  for  its  application.  More  than  10,000,000  acres  of 
land  are  being  watered  each  year  and  more  than  15,000,000  acres  are 
capable  of  being  watered  from  the  canals  and  ditches  already  built. 
The  greater  part  of  this  water  comes  from  creeks  and  rivers,  hundreds 
of  these  being  complete!}-  emptied  at  some  season  each  year  in  order 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  fields  along  their  banks.  Other  ditches  are 
supplied  from  reservoirs,  of  which  thousands  have  already  been  built. 
Still  other  ditches  are  filled  from  water  lifted  from  wells.  In  all,  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  several  million  homes  and  the  future  indus- 
trial importance  of  more  than  one-third  of  this  country  is  dependent 
upon  the  successful  working  of  the  laws  and  practices  for  the  control 
and  utilization  of  water  which  have  grown  up  in  the  western  part  of 
the  United  States  within  the  past  fifty  years.  The  rapidity  and  extent 
of  this  irrigation  development  has  had  no  counterpart  in  any  other 
country.  It  has  been  carried  out  by  men  to  whom  all  its  problems 
were  strange  and  new,  and,  in  man}7  cases,  where  scanty  population, 
lack  of  transportation  facilities,  and  limited  means  on  the  part  of 
settlers  have  added  to  both  the  difficulty  and  the  cost  of  the  work. 
The  results  already  secured  furnish  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the 

«  Fresh  Water  Morasses  of  the  United  States. 


energy  and  capacity  of  the  American  farmer,  but  the  time  has  come 
when  this  kind  of  development  should  be  replaced  by  one  less  waste- 
ful and  more  orderly.  Of  necessity  much  of  the  early  work  was  done 
in  an  unsatisfactory  fashion,  many  of  the  methods  of  using  water  are 
crude  and  imperfect,  and  the  social  and  legal  organizations  under 
which  rivers  are  now  being  fought  over  are  not  adapted  to  securing 
the  largest  and  best  results  or  to  meeting  the  requirements  of  the  time 
when  increasing  value  of  water  and  greater  demand  for  its  use  by  an 
increased  population  will  intensify  the  struggle  over  its  possession. 
Many  of  the  problems  created  by  this  development  have  already 
assumed  a  complexity  and  importance  which  makes  it  plain  that  their 
solution  can  only  be  effected  through  painstaking  investigation,  which 
will  embrace  widely  scattered  areas  and  be  directed  and  interpreted  by 
men  of  experience  and  ability  in  irrigation  engineering  and  irrigation 
practice.  The  investigations  during  the  past  five  years  have  been 
directed  toward  building  up  an  organization  of  experts,- who  shall  be 
investigators  rather  than  construction  engineers  and  who  shall  study 
all  problems  from  the  standpoint  of  the  farmer. 

DUTY  OF  WATER. 

The  first  question  which  confronts  the  farmer  in  the  arid  region  is 
the  amount  of  water  required  to  insure  crops  on  the  land  he  is  to  cul- 
tivate. He  needs  this  information  in  order  to  make  an  intelligent 
bargain  for  water  where  he  rents  it  from  a  canal  company,  or  to  fix 
the  size  of  the  canal  he  builds  himself.  He  needs  to  know  when  this 
water  will  be  required — how  much  in  May,  how  much  in  August — in 
order  to  determine  whether  the  stream,  reservoir,  or  well  he  depends 
on  can  supply  it.  The  amount  he  must  have  varies  widety  in  different 
localities  and  with  different  products.  The  irrigation  of  small  grains, 
as  a  rule,  ends  with  July;  the  irrigation  of  many  root  crops  does  not 
begin  before  this  month,  while  the  irrigation  of  alfalfa  continues 
throughout  the  growing  season. 

He  should  also  be  able  to  estimate  how  much  of  the  water  taken  in 
at  the  head  gate  will  be  lost  by  seepage  in  transit,  because  losses  in 
transit  in  some  instances  amount  to  more  than  one-half  of  the  total 
supply.  For  the  past  five  years  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations, 
through  its  irrigation  investigations,  has  been  gathering  and  publish- 
ing this  information  for  the  'benefit  of  farmers  and.  ditch  owners. 
Systematic  measurements  have  been  made  in  all  parts  of  the  arid 
region  to  determine  the  amount  of  water  lost  in  transit  in  canals,  the 
amount  required  by  different  crops,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  quan 
tity  of  water  used  can  be  influenced  by  greater  care  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  land,  greater  skill  in  the  distribution  of  water,  and  by 
improvements  to  lessen  seepage  losses  in  diversion  and  carriage.  Some 
of  the  results  of  these  studies  are  given  in  charts  exhibited  at  the 


10 

Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  which  show  the  average  quantity  of 
water  required  to  irrigate  an  acre  of  land  when  measured  at  the  head 
gate,  the  average  when  measured  at  the  margin  of  fields,  and  the 
average  requirements  of  different  crops. 

One  of  the  results  of  these  investigations  has  been  to  show  that  the 
loss  of  water  from  seepage  is  far  more  serious  than  had  been  generally 
supposed,  even  by  canal  owners  and  irrigation  engineers,  and  that  one 
of  the  most  promising  means  of  increasing  the  duty  of  water  is  to 
build  better  canals  and  devote  more  care  to  keeping  them  in  first-class 
condition.  It  has  alread}^  proven  profitable  in  a  few  localities  to  line 
canals  with  some  impervious  coating  in  order  to  reduce  or  prevent 
seepage  losses.  Many  miles  of  canals  and  ditches  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia have  been  cemented  at  a  profit  (PI.  I),  and  the  extension  of  this 
sort  of  work  is  only  delayed  because  of  uncertainty  as  to  whether  or 
not  cementing  is  the  cheapest  and  best  means  of  securing  a  water- 
tight conduit. 

One  of  the  first  difficulties  encountered  in  the  beginning  of  this 
work  was  the  lack  of  an  accurate,  simple  register  to  keep  a  continuous 
record  of  the  water  used.  All  those  which  were  satisfactory  were 
at  that  time  imported  from  France.  To-da}^  they  are  practically  all 
made  in  this  country,  a  result  which  is  chiefly  due  to  the  irrigation 
investigations  of  this  Office.  Designs  of  instruments  were  made  by 
the  experts,  as  experience  showed  what  changes  could  be  made  to 
advantage.  The  drawings  were  given  to  the  makers  of  such  instru- 
ments. Some  of  the  instruments  which  had  their  origin  in  the  designs 
prepared  by  this  Office,  and  which  have  been  perfected  in  details  by 
the  various  makers  are  shown  in  figures  1,  2,  and  3.a  The}7  are  now 
superior  to  anything  used  in  the  irrigated  districts  of  Europe. 

The  accurate  measurement  of  water  is  the  first  requisite  in  the  effi- 
cient division  of  a  river  among  those  entitled  to  its  water  supply.  In 
the  preparation  of  weir  tables,  directions  for  placing  weirs,  and  in  dis- 
cussion of  the  factors  which  influence  water  measurement,  this  Office 
has  done  much  to  direct  and  aid  improvement  along  this  line  in  every 
arid  State. 

Actual  measurements  of  the  quantity  of  water  used  in  irrigation, 
and  of  the  volume  lost  by  seepage  and  evaporation  in  ditches,  should 
have  been  made  at  the  very  outset  in  irrigation  development  in  every 
important  valley  of  the  West.  It  is  the  or\\y  way  in  which  a  reliable 
guide  can  be  had  for  framing  water-right  contracts  between  farmers 
and  canal  owners,  and  to  enable  courts  to  make  a  just  and  intelligent 
adjudication  of  rights  to  a  stream.  In  order  that  an  appropriation  of 
water  shall  be  limited  to  beneficial  use  we  must  first  know  how  much 
is  needed  to  supply  that  use. 

"These  instruments  are  shown  in  the  exhibit  of  the  Office  at  the  St.  Loais  Expo- 
sition. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Office- of  Expt.  Stations,  723. 


PLATE  i. 


11 


To  show  how  little  wa^r known  in  the  early  settlement  of  these  ques- 
tions, it  may  IM«  stated  that  along  a  .stream  25  miles  in  length  the 
amount  of  water  bargained  to  be  supplied  under  the  early  contracts 
varied  from  enough  to  cover  the  land  to  a  depth  of  1  foot  in  the  sea- 
son to  enough  to  cover  it  to  a  depth  of  7  feet  during  the  same  time, 
while  the  decrees  of  the  court  establishing  rights  to  water  varied  from 
enough  to  cover  the  land  to  a  depth  of  1  foot  in  a  season  to  enough  to 
cover  it  to  a  depth  of  400  feet  in  a  season.  The  use  made  of  the  meas- 
urements carried  on  by  this  Office  during  the  past  five  years  by  courts, 
legislators,  ditch  companies,  and  farmers  has  shown  the  need  of  these 
data.  The  averages  obtained  show  that  much  more  water  is  used  than 
is  needed,  and  lead  to  the  belief  that 
the  water  now  used  on  one  acre  can.  by 
better  preparation  of  land  and  more 
skillful  application,  be  made  to  serve 
two  acres.  General  rules  are  not, 
however,  sufficient  for  the  working 
out  of  a  satisfactoiy  irrigation  prac- 
tice for  the  whole  arid  region,  be- 
cause soil,  climate,  and  crop  each 
influence  the  result  and  produce 
widely  varying  requirements  in  dif- 
ferent sections.  More  than  three 
times  as  much  water  is  needed  in 
Arizona  as  in  Montana,  because  the 
summers  are  hotter  and  the  growing 
seasons  longer.  What  is  needed, 
therefore,  is  investigations  which 
will  be  sufficient  in  number  and  wide 
enough  in  geographical  distribution 
to  furnish  an  approximate  guide  for 
the  practice  of  farmers  in  all  sections 

Of  the  country.  FlG-  l--The  Wyoming  nilometer. 

The  earlier  investigations  dealt  wholly  with  the  quantit}T  of  water 
required  under  methods  in  common  use.  During  the  past  two  years 
a  new  series  of  original  researches  have  been  inaugurated,  to  determine 
what  quantity  of  water  will  give  the  best  results  and  what  methods  of 
application  will  secure  the  greatest  economy  in  its  use.  A  large  num- 
ber of  experiments  are  being  made  in  Utah.  California,  Oregon,  and 
Montana,  in  which  different  quantities  of  water  are  being  applied  to 
the  same  crop  by  the  same  methods,  in  order  to  determine  where  the 
increased  use  of  water  ceases  to  be  profitable,  and  also  where  it  ceases 
to  be  beneficial.  We  wish  to  find  out  two  things:  What  volume  of 
water  will  give  the  largest  }Tield  for  an  acre  of  land,  and  what  volume 
will  give  the  largest  return  for  each  acre-foot  of  water  used.  Experi- 


12 

nients  are  also  being  made  to  determine  what  method  of  application 
-will  give  the  best  results  with  the  least  loss  of  water  from  seepage  and 
•evaporation. a  While  the  experiments  were  only  begun  last  }7ear,  the 
results  are  most  significant — nearly  twice  as  much  water  being  required 


SIDE   ELEVATION 
WITH    COVER    REMOVED 


JJ  -  POSITION  OF  RCDI/CINQ  GEAR  WHIN 
HOT  IN  use. 


FIG..  2.— Friez  water  register  No.  2. 


to  irrigate  land  by  flooding  as  will  serve  where  it  is  applied  in  deep 
furrows. 

These  investigations  have  also  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  character 
of  water  rights  has  an  important  influence  on  the  volume  of  water 


a  Pictures  of  the  tank  experiments  at  Fresno,  Cal.,  displayed  in  the  exhibt  at  St. 
Louis,  show  how  some  of  these  studies  are  being  carried  on. 


13 

used  in  irrigation.  Contracts  which  are  based  on  the  acres  irrigated 
are  a  direct  incentive  to  a  wasteful  use  of  water,  because  the  farmer 
feels  that  the  more  water  he  uses  on  an  acre  the  more  he  will  get  for 
the  money  paid.  On  the  other  hand,  contracts  which  base  the  rental 
charge  on  the  volume  of  water  used  encourage  farmers  to  exhibit  skill 
and  economy  in  its  application,  because  the  less  they  put  on  their 
fields  the  smaller  their  water  rentals  will  be.  It  makes  it  profitable  to 
expend  more  mone}T  in  the  preparation  of  land,  to  put  ditches  in  bet- 
ter condition,  and  to  supplement  irrigation  by  thorough  cultivation. 

After  the  water  supply  is  secured,  fields  must  be  prepared  for  its 
application.  The  cost,  the  labor,  and  the  skill  required  in  putting  an 
uneven  surface  in  condition  to  have  water  reach,  by  gravity,  every 


FIG.  3.— Water  register  manufactured  for  the  Department  (side  view). 

square  foot  of  its  surface  have  never  been  rightly  appreciated.  So- 
much  attention  has  been  given  to  problems  connected  with  the  build- 
ing of  dams  and  canals  that  the  work  of  the  farmer,  which,  after 'all, 
determines  what  value  the  dams  and  canals  are  to  have,  has  been  neg- 
lected. No  one  who  has  made  a  study  of  our  irrigation  practice  can  fail 
to  reach  the  conclusion  that  the  outlay  expended  in  preparing  fields  for 
the  application  of  water,  which  includes  removing  brush,  leveling 
uneven  areas,  and  the  building  of  laterals,  is  on  the  average  equal  to  or 
greater  than  the  cost  of  the  main  canals.  Not  only  is  this  true,  but, 
owing  to  lack  of  information  regarding  the  methods  of  applying  water, 
much  of  this  money  and  labor  has  been  lost.  This  waste  and  loss  is 
going  on  continually,  because  each  year  tens  of  thousands  of  beginners 
in  irrigation  undertake  the  reclamation  of  new  lands.  If  left  to  them- 
selves they  adopt  the  methods  of  their  neighbors,  without  regard  to 


14 

whether  they  are  suited  to  their  conditions.  In  too  many  instances 
they  are  not.  There  are  in  this  country  about  thirty  different  S}TS- 
tems  of  applying  water  to  crops.  To  know  which  one  of  these  is  best 
suited  to  a  particular  farm  requires  a  knowledge  of  the  subject  not 
possessed  by  the  average  irrigator  or  the  average  engineer.  Noth- 
ing wTill  do  more  to  promote  rapid  and  successful  settlement  of  lands 
now  arid  than  to  show  farmers  how  to  save  money  and  time  in  grading 
land  and  building  laterals;  but  in  order  to  advise  regarding  this,  field 
investigations  which  will  give  an  accurate  idea  of  conditions  are  abso- 
lutely indispensable,  and  these  are  being  made  and  reports  prepared. 
The  results  of  studies  of  this  kind  made  in  one  district  show  that  to 
prepare  the  land  for  irrigation  by  the  plan  first  adopted  would  involve 
an  outlay  of  more  than  $3,000,000,  or  about  twice  the  amount  needed  to 
build  the  canal.  It  has  also  been  made  apparent  that  fully  half  of  this 
outlay  can  be  saved  by  the  adoption  of  a  different  method  of  applying 
water. 

LEGAL  AND  ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS. 

When  there  is  more  water  in  the  stream  than  all  the  irrigators  need, 
farmers  pay  little  attention  to  the  nature  of  their  rights  to  divert  its 
flow;  but  as  ditches  increase  in  number  until  the  stream  does  not  carry 
enough  water  to  supply  all,  the  question  of  which  head  gate  must  be 
closed  and  which  farmer  must  lose  his  crop  because  of  this  shortage 
becomes  a  matter  of  overshadowing  importance.  It  is  then  that  the 
irrigator  with  an  imperfect  right  realizes  that  a  valid  title  to  water  is 
more  important  than  a  title  to  land.  The  knowledge  of  his  own  lost 
labor,  ruined  crops,  and  his  fields  parched  by  drought  is  aggravated  by 
the  prosperi  I}-  of  his  neighbors  whose  superior  rights  in  the  stream 
keep  their  ditches  filled"  and  their  fields  wet.  In  the  absence  of  laws 
to  govern  the  division  of  the  water  supply,  or  of  agreements  to  regu- 
late such  division  by  mutual  consent,  the  position  of  a  canal  on  the 
stream  determines  whether  it  has  an  abundant  or  scanty  water  supply. 
The  irrigator  whose  ditch  is  nearest  the  head  of  the  stream,  or  whose 
lateral  is  nearest  the  head  of  the  canal,  uses  or  wastes  water  as  he 
pleases.  Those  farthest  down  must  take  what  is  left,  and  when  waste 
or  use  has  exhausted  the  supply  it  is  always  the  irrigator  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  stream  or  the  farther  end  of  the  canal  who  is  the  first  to 
suffer.  To  prevent  the  waste  and  injustice  inevitable  on  such  canals, 
there  has  been  built  up  in  each  Western  State  a  system  of  legal  and 
social  institutions  intended  to  govern  the  relations  of  water  users  to 
each  other  and  to  determine  and  protect  their  rights  to  the  water  sup- 
ply. As  settlements  have  multiplied,  demands  on  the  streams  have 
increased,  and  irrigators  have  come  to  realize  that  on  the  wisdom  and 
justice  of  these  institutions  depend  in  large  measure  the  value  of  irri- 
gated land  and  the  security,  peacefulness,  and  profit  which  attend 
their  work. 


15 

The  Arkansas  River  inr  Colorado  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  impor- 
tance of  the  social  and  legal  problems  of  irrigation.  One  thousand 
nine  hundred  ditches  divert  this  river  in  that  State.  Their  aggregate 
length,  exclusive  of  laterals,  is  more  than  3,000  miles.  About  $9,000,000 
has  been  expended  in  their  construction.  Six  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  land  can  be  watered  from  them,  and  more  than  400,000  is  now  being 
irrigated.  Between  7,000  and  8,000  people  depend  on  these  ditches 
for  their  water  supply,  and  they  have  invested  large  sums  of  money  in 
the  purchase  of  stock  in  the  companies,  in  buying  water-right  con- 
tracts, or  in  the  payment  of  annual  water  rentals.  The  value  of  the 
irrigable  land  thereunder  is  between  $25,000,000  and  $30,000,000. 
The  cost  of  operating  and  maintaining  these  works  is  over  $200,000  a 
year.  Each  one  of  these  8,000  irrigators  knows  that  in  order  to  grow 
a  crop  he  must  have  his  part  of  the  water  of  the  river  at  the  time  the 
crop  needs  it,  and  that  if  some  other  canal  or  some  other  irrigator 
takes  his  share  his  crops  will  be  ruined,  no  matter  how  industrious  or 
skillful  he  may  be  in  their  cultivation.  With  8,000  irrigators  scat- 
tered over  a  territoiy  more  than  200  miles  in  length  and  in  places  50 
miles  wide,  he  also  knows  that  he  is  dependent  for  his  share  of  the 
water  supply  on  the  nature  of  the  arrangements  for  preventing  waste 
on  the  part  of  others  and  on  the  efficiency  of  the  division  of  the 
stream  between  the  1,900  ditches  which  divert  it.  Unless  the  head 
gates  of  these  ditches  or  canals  are  so  adjusted  that  no  one  can  take 
more  than  its  proper  share,  and  unless  those  not  entitled  to  water  are 
closed  entirely  when  the  protection  of  superior  rights  requires  it, 
there  must  inevitably  be  injustice,  bitterness  of  feeling,  and  failure  of 
crops. 

The  final  problem  of  irrigation  becomes  one  of  distribution  and,  to 
make  this  a  success,  the  arrangements  for  transporting  water  to  the 
laterals  of  the  different  farms  should  be  carried  out  with  the  same 
order  and  system  that  marks  the  management  of  a  railroad  or  express 
company.  The  difficulty  of  securing  a  satisfactory  division  of  a  river 
among  irrigators  is  enormously  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  volume 
of  water  to  be  divided  is  never  uniform.  It  varies  from  day  to  day 
and  from  season  to  season.  The  flow  of  the  Arkansas,  for  example, 
has  been  as  high  as  40,000  cubic  feet  per  second  and  as  low  as  100 
cubic  feet  per  second.  At  its  highest  stage  there  was  more  water 
than  all  the  canals  could  carry  and  the  integrity  of  head  gates  was 
threatened.  At  its  lowest  stage  there  was  not  enough  to  wet  the 
flumes.  Irrigation  on  this  stream  has  already  been  so  extended  that 
without  storage  of  flood  waters  the  crops  on  many  fields  must  each 
year  be  parched  by  drought,  and  great  storage  reservoirs  have  been 
built  and  others  are  contemplated  in  order  that  the  200,000  acres  of 
land  under  existing  ditches,  not  }Tet  irrigated,  may  be  brought  under 
cultivation.  The  water  of  many  of  these  reservoirs  has  to  be  turned 


16 

into  the  river,  mingled  with  that  coming  directly  from  the  snows,  and 
carried  past  the  head  gates  of  many  ditches  and  canals  not  entitled  to 
stored  water,  in  order  to  reach  the  head  gates  of  the  canals  under 
which  its  owners  live.  The  difficulty  of  dividing  the  natural  flow  is 
therefore  augmented  by  its  union  with  the  stored  supply. 

The  great  extent  of  territory  embraced,  the  vast  interests  involved, 
the  changing  conditions  regarding  needs  of  irrigators,  and  the  volume 
of  water  to  supply  them  makes  it  manifestly  impossible  for  each 
individual  irrigator  to  protect  and  secure  his  own  share.  The  farmer 
at  the  lower  end  of  this  valley  can  not  cultivate  his  fields  and  watch 
the  head  gates  of  the  canals  above.  As  an  individual  he  is  helpless. 
The  success  of  his  own  efforts  and  that  of  all  other  irrigators  depends 
on  public  control  and  the  enforcement  of  laws  by  men  of  broad  experi- 
ence and  possessing  tact,  firmness,  and  administrative  ability  of  high 
order.  The  greatest  weakness  of  American  irrigation  to-day  is  the 
lack  of  effective  administration  of  streams. a 

Where  the  above  facts  have  not  been  recognized  continuous  and 
expensive  litigation  over  water  rights  has  been  the  result,  and  this 
has  been  one  of  the  heaviest  burdens  borne  by  the  farmers  of  the  arid 
States.  It  is  made  the  more  burdensome  because  it  is  wholly  unpro- 
ductive, the  money  spent  in  litigation  being  wasted,  considering  the 
industry  as  a  whole.  The  amounts  thus  spent  are  a  drain  on  the  farm- 
ers now  using  water,  and  the  probability  of  these  controversies  con- 
tinuing is  an  effective  check  on  further  development.  The  prevalence 
of  litigation  is  the  most  significant  indication  of  inadequate  or  misfit 
laws,  and  a  conclusive  argument  in  favor  of  an  investigation  to  show 
the  direction  which  improvements  should  take.  In  carrying  out  the 
investigation  of  this  subject  certain  typical  districts  have  been  selected 
and  a  careful  study  made  of  existing  conditions,  the  object  being  first 
to  obtain  the  facts,  believing  that  the}7  would  be  the  most  potent 
argument  for  reform.  In  presenting  these  facts  investigators  must 
be  something  more  than  ^reporters,  and  should  present  not  only  the 
existing  situation  but  the  causes  by  which  it  was  created,  and  this  has 
been  done.  The  reports  of  this  Office  on  the  irrigation  systems  of 
California,  Utah,  Wyoming,  Nevada,  and  Colorado  have  resulted  in  a 
great  quickening  of  popular  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  more 
effective  laws. 

Adequate  legislation  and  efficient  protection  of  rights  is  further 
hampered  by  the  fact  that  State  boundaries  cut  across  the  drainage 
lines  of  many  irrigated  valleys.  The  irrigated  district  of  the  Arkansas 
lies  partly  in  Colorado  and  partly  in  Kansas.  That  of  Bear  River 
begins  in  Utah,  extends  into  Wyoming  and  Idaho,  and  returns  again 

«This  has  been  brought  out  in  Bulletins  96,  100,  118,  124,  and  140  of  the  Office  of 
Experiment  Stations. 


17 

to  Utah.  Differences  in  laws  and  customs  and  lack  of  efficient  pro- 
tection of  rights  in  every  one  of  these  valleys  means  that  priorities 
must  be  enforced  along  the  entire  stream,  but  this  is  not  possible  as 
long  as  a  single  authority  is  not  in  charge  ami  as  long  as  the  nature  of 
rights,  customs,  and  prejudices  differ  as  greatly  as  they  do  in  different 
States  at  the  present  time.  In  order  to  determine  what  solution 
should  be  made  of  this  problem,  Congress  has  required  the  Office  of 
Experiment  Stations,  through  its  irrigation  investigations,  to  prepare 
a  report  on  the  laws  affecting  irrigation  and  the  rights  of  riparian 
proprietors.  This  report  will  deal  with  a  concrete  illustration  of  the 
effect  of  existing  laws,  the  Platte  River  being  used.  On  this  stream 
riparian  rights  are  recognized  at  the  lower  end  and  only  the  rights  of 
appropriation  at  the  upper  end.  The  report  will  deal  with  the  laws, 
the  number  and  character  of  existing  rights,  the  methods  of  dividing 
water,  and  th^  flow  of  the  stream  as  affected  by  diversions  above  and 
the  return  of  seepage  water  below. 

PUMPING  FOB  IRRIGATION. 

The  first  lands  irrigated  were  the  bottoms  along  streams.  Irrigation 
has  gradually  extended  to  the  higher  lands,  with  constantly  increasing 
expense  for  canal  construction.  In  man}T  places  the  cost  of  a  gravity 
supply  has  become  so  great  that  it  is  cheaper  to  pump  water  than 
to  build  long  canals.  In  many  other  sections  the  only  available  water 
supply  is  from  wells,  the  streams  having  so  slight  a  fall  that  their 
diversion  by  gravity  is  impossible.  Losses  from  canals  and  the  irri- 
gation of  land  are  bringing  the  ground  water  nearer  and  nearer  the 
surface  until,  in  many  instances,  this  ground  water  is  the  cheapest 
source  of  supply  that  farmers  have.  They  can  raise  it  to  the  surface 
by  means  of  pumps  with  less  expense  than  they  can  rent  water  from 
canals,  and  in  addition  they  are  free  from  the  variations  in  supply  or 
the  complications  over  management  so  common  to  larcre  canal  systems. 
Recent  discoveries  of  oil  and  improvements  in  transmission  of  elec- 
trical power  have  greatly  reduced  the  expense  of  pumping  water  for 
irrigation. 

This  is  a  new  branch  of  irrigation,  and  the  ordinary  farmer  or  water 
user  under  a  gravity  canal  has  had  little  opportunity  of  gaining  infor- 
mation concerning  it.  During  the  past  few  years  many  pumping 
plants  have  been  installed  and  much  experimenting  has  been  done  at 
the  expense  of  the  owners,  but  the  experience  and  knowledge  thus 
gained  by  the  few  have  not  been  made  available  to  the  many.  A  study 
of  the  cost  and  methods,  of  pumping  water  forms  an  important  feature 
of  the  investigations  of  this  Office. 

This  branch  of  the  subject  is  many  sided.  There  are,  for  example, 
a  comparison  of  the  various  fuels,  the  proper  conditions  for  each 
kind  and  make  of  pumps  and  engines  under  which  both  will  work  at 
2321—04 2 


18 

their  highest  efticienc}7,  the  digging  and  boring  of  wells,  the  proper 
installation  of  plants,  the  effect  of  pumping  on  the  ground-water- 
supply,  and  the  quantity  required  for  the  irrigation  of  different  crops 
on  soils  of  various  characters.  These  and  similar  questions  have  been 
under  investigation." 

IRRIGATION  IN  THE  SEMIARID  REGION. 

Between  the  eastern  parts  of  Texas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
and  the  Dakotas  and  the  distinctively  arid  country  which  lies  at  the 
western  border  of  these  States  there  is  a  broad  strip  of  country  which 
extends  from  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States  almost  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  this  belt  there  is  plenty  of  rain  in  many  sea- 
sons to  produce  crops,  but  in  others  agriculture  without  irrigation  is 
a  failure.  In  all  years  the  period  in  which  irrigation  is  necessary  is 
of  brief  duration  only.  In  these  sections  farmers  are  confronted  by 
two  problems— how  to  make  the  limited  water  supply  of  that  region 
available,  and  how  to  utilize  it  to  the  best  advantage.  Owing  to  the 
absence  of  large  rivers  and  the  intermittent  character  of  the  streams, 
the  majority  of  farmers  must  depend  upon  two  sources  for  their  water 
supply — on  what  they  can  pump  out  of  the  subsoil  of  their  farms,  and 
what  they  can  store  in  small  reservoirs.  In  this  region  there  have 
been  recurring  periods  of  wet  and  dry  years,  which  have  peopled  and 
depopulated  certain  sections  three  or  four  times.  Rainy  years  attract 
farmers  and  dry  years  drive  them  away.  A  special  system  of  agri- 
culture must  be  worked  out  for  this  part  of  the  country,  in  which  the 
total  holdings  of  land  will  be  comparatively  large,  but  where  each 
settler  will  be  fortified  by  having  from  10  to  20  acres  of  ground  which 
he  can  irrigate,  and  which  will  assure  him  every  year,  whether  it  be  a 
wet  or  a  dry  one,  an  ample  supply  of  vegetables  from  his  garden,  some 
fruits,  and  enough  alfalfa  and  forage  to  support  his  milch  cows  and 
other  live  stock. 

Something  of  the  possibilities  of  reclaiming  land  by  means  of  pumps 
and  small  reservoirs  is  shown  by  the  statistics  of  irrigation  in  India. 
In  British  India,  within  an  area  approximately  equal  to  what  is  termed 
the  semiarid  region,  12,895,000  acres  are  irrigated  with  water  which  is 
raised  by  some  mechanical  means,  while  8,138,000  acres  are  irrigated 
from  "tanks,"  or  reservoirs,  most  of  which  are  supplied  from  storm 
water  rather  than  from  streams.6 

It  is  believed  that  grain  crops,  at  least,  can  be  raised  throughout  the 
plains  region  by  deep  fall  plowing,  which  will  put  the  land  in  condi- 
tion to  absorb  all  the  water  which  falls  during  the  winter,  and  thorough 

((The  exhibit  at  St.  Louis  shows  one  of  the  typical  pumps  used  in  the  western  part 
of  the  irrigated  district. 

&  Report  of  the  Indian  Irrigation  Commission,  1901-1903,  Pt.  I,  p.  11. 


U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,  Office  of  Expt.  Stations,  723. 


PLATE 


19 

cultivation  in  the  spring,  which  will  prevent  the  evaporation  of  the 
soil  moisture.  Experiments  are  being  made  to  determine  the  efficiency 
of  thi>  system  of  cultivation. 

The  use  of  pumps  and  windmills,  the  storage  of  storm  waters  in 
i  "M'rvoirs  and  in  the  soil,  will  at  least  enable  those  engaged  in  the  live- 
stock business  on  the  plains  to  raise  their  own  provisions  and  provide 
feed  for  their  stock  during  winter  storms.  Much  more  is  hoped  for. 

Experts  having  a  knowledge  of  both  the  installation  and  operation 
of  pumps,  and  of  applying  water  to  crops,  are  at  work  in  western 
Kansas,  Texas,  and  Arkansas,  showing  farmers  the  best  methods  of 
securing  and  applying  water,  and  collecting  data  to  show  the  possibil- 
ities and  cost  of  providing  a  water  supply  throughout  this  vast  region. 

IRRIGATION  IN  THE  HUMID  REGION. 

In  the  humid  region  irrigation  is  not  necessary  to  profitable  agri- 
culture, as  it  is  in  the  West,  and  the  problem  is  not  how  to  get  the 
largest  possible  returns  from  a  limited  water  supply,  but  whether  the 
supplying  of  water  to  plants  during  dry  seasons  or  during  the  short 
dry  periods  which  occur  in  almost  every  season  will  increase  produc- 
tion enough  to  repay  the  expense  incurred.  This,  of  course,  includes 
a  study  of  the  most  economical  means  of  securing  a  water  supply  and 
the  best  methods  of  applying  it  to  crops.  Experiments  made  in  Mis- 
souri, Wisconsin,  and  New  Jersey  have  demonstrated  that  irrigation 
in  those  sections  is  highly  profitable  by  the  methods  followed,  and  the 
experiments  are  being  continued  with  a  view  to  the  determination  of 
the  best  methods.  The  work  in  Missouri  is  mainly  with  small  fruits 
and  nurser}T  stock.  The  experiments  in  Wisconsin  include  field  as 
well  as  garden  crops,  and  at  present  the  irrigation  of  cranberries  is 
being  thoroughly  tested.  In  New  Jersey  small  fruits  and  garden 
crops  have  been  irrigated. 

The  greatest  field  for  irrigation  in  the  humid  district  is,  however, 
in  the  Southern  States.  Here  comprehensive  studies  of  the  best  meth- 
ods of  irrigating  rice,  the  amount  of  water  required,  and  the  cost  of 
supplying  it  where  it  must  be  raised  from  streams  or  wells  by  pump- 
ing (PI.  II),  are  being  carried  on.  In  addition,  experiments  have  been 
instituted  in  connection  with  two  of  the  experiment  stations  of  the 
Southern  States  to  determine  whether  or  not  ordinary  field  crops  can 
be  irrigated  with  profit.  The  great  extension  of  irrigation  in  Euro- 
pean countries,  with  a  rainfall  equal  to  or  greater  than  our  own  and 
more  evenly  distributed,  leads  to  the  belief  that  it  is  to  prove  of  equal 
advantage  here.  The  diagram  (fig.  4)  shows  the  relation  between  the 
rainfall  of  the  greatest  irrigated  district  of  Europe  and  that  of  typical 
humid  sections  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States. 


20 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  WA- 
TER USED  IN  IRRIGA- 
TION. 

A  knowledge  of  the  chem- 
ical composition  of  water 
used  in  irrigation  is  at  times 
of  great  advantage.  Some 
water  supplies  earry  so  large 
a  percentage  of  alkaline  salts 
as  to  make  their  continued 
use  on  land  a  serious  menace. 
The  silt  borne  by  many 
streams  is  a  fertilizer  of 
great  value  and  one  of  the 
most  effective  means  of  less- 
ening seepage  losses  in  canals 
and  ditches.  During  the  past 
four  years,  through  the  co- 
operation of  the  Bureau  of 
Chemistry  of  this  Depart- 
ment, the  chemical  depart- 
ment of  the  State  Agricul- 
tural College  of  Texas,  and 
the  College  of  Agriculture  in 
the  University  of  California, 
numerous  samples  of  water 
have  been  collected  and  the 
amount  of  silt  carried  in  sus- 
pension and  the  alkaline  salts 
in  solution  have  been  deter- 
mined. 

In  the  rice-growing  district 
of  Louisiana  and  Texas  these 
analyses  are  needed  to  deter- 
mine when  the  salt  content, 
due  to  the  inflowing  sea  wa- 
ter, becomes  a  menace  to 
pumping  machinery  and  the 
growing  crop.  In  Texas 
many  analyses  have  been 
made  to  determine  the  sedi- 
ment value  of  the  water  used 
in  irrigation  and  also  to  de- 
termine how  the  deposit  of 
sediment  is  likely  to  impair 
the  efficient  operation  of 
ditches  or  the  life  of  reser- 


21 

voirs  by  filling  them  up.V  The  work  of  Professor  Nagle  in  Texas 
showed  that  the  quantity  of  silt  carried  by  southern  streams  is  too 
important  a  factor  to  be  ignored  in  the  construction  of  either  ditches 
or  reservoirs. 

During  the  present  season  a  large  number  of  water  samples  are 
being  taken  and  analyzed  in  California.  One  purpose  of  these  is  to 
inform  farmers  as  to  whether  or  not  the  soil  water,  which  is  being 
made  available  by  the  construction  of  drainage  works  and  the  pump- 
ing of  water  from  wells,  can  be  applied  to  the  land  continuously  with- 


WATER  SAMPLE  TRAP 

SltT  INVESTIGATIONS 


DinttsiONs  or  CYLINDER 

Patter     3.0fedw> 
U.(tt     12.2  wkn 


FIG.  5. — Water  sample  trap. 

out  danger  of  injury.  Thus  far  the  results  of  these  analyses  have 
been  most  encouraging,  showing  in  nearly  every  case  that  the  percent- 
age of  alkali  is  so  small  as  to  permit  of  the  water  being  used  with 
safety,  and  insuring  a  large  increase  in  the  irrigated  area  from  this 
source  of  supply. 

In  collecting  samples  from  the  deep  ba}'ous  of  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
and  from  some  of  the  streams  where  the  percentage  of  silt  is  high,  it 
has  been  desirable  to  ascertain  whether  there  was  any  difference  in 
the  character  of  the  water  on  the  surface  and  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stream.  The  water  sampler  shown  in  figure  5  was  devised  for  this 
purpose.0 


«  Two  of  these  instruments  are  in  the  exhibit  at  St.  Louis. 


22 

THE  DRAINAGE  INVESTIGATIONS. 

The  loss  of  water  from  leaky  canals  causes  the  temporary  injury 
of  man}T  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  irrigated  districts  of  the  West. 
This  water  finds  its  way  through  the  subsoil  in  the  fields  below  the 
canals  from  which  it  escapes,  dissolving  in  its  course  the  soluble  salts 
in  the  soil  through  which  it  passes.  In  time  it  fills  the  subsoil  in  the 
lower  lands,  causing  a  gradual  rise  of  the  water  plane  until  in  places 
what  were  formerly  productive  fields  become  bogs  and  marshes,  in 
which  the  roots  of  all  vegetation  are  drowned  out.  As  the  soil  water 
evaporates,  it  becomes  more  and  more  concentrated,  until  the  water 
and  soil  become  so  strongly  alkaline  as  to  check  the  growth  of  plants, 
or  prevent  it  entirely,  leaving  the  ground  bare  of  vegetation  but 
covered  with  a  crust  of  alkali.  Seepage  water,  therefore,  causes  two 
injuries — it  drowns  out  vegetation  in  some  places  by  excess  of  water 
and  kills  vegetation  in  other  instances  by  excess  of  alkali.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  some  of  the  older  agricultural  districts  fully  10  per 
cent  of  the  land  once  cultivated  is  now  unproductive  on  account  of 
the  rise  of  seepage  water. 

Although  much  can  be  done  to  prevent  seepage  from  canals,  and  to 
prevent  waste  and  the  escape  of  water  from  irrigated  lands  by  economy 
in  use,  some  loss  is  inevitable,  and  the  overwatered  area  is  gradually 
extending.  Checking  losses  will  not  now  restore  the  productiveness 
of  the  lands  alread}^  injured.  To  relieve  these  lands  of  their  surplus 
water  and  alkali,  drainage  is  necessary.  This  necessity  was  recognized 
by  Congress  in  making  provision  for  the  work  of  this  Office  for  the 
year  1903,  when  a  clause  was  inserted  in  the  law  providing  for  the  study 
of  "plans  for  the  removal  of  seepage  and  surplus  waters  by  drainage." 
For  many  years  as  fast  as  lowlands  became  unfit  for  cultivation  they 
were  abandoned,  because  it  cost  less  to  water  new  lands  than  to  drain  the 
old;  but  as  longer  canals  are  required  to  reach  new  lands,  the  expense 
becomes  so  great  that  better  returns  can  be  secured  by  the  drainage  of 
seeped  lands.  The  exhaustion  of  the  water  supply  helps  on  this  tendency, 
since  these  lands  when  drained  require  much  less  water  than  higher  lands, 
and  the  water  drained  from  them  can  be  used  to  irrigate  other  lands. 

The  most  extended  studies  of  drainage  of  irrigated  Lands  have  been 
carried  on  in  California,  Washington,  and  Utah.  In  the  district  about 
Fresno,  Cal. ,  where  the  water  plane  was  once  70  feet  below  the  surface, 
it  has  risen  in  places  to  2  feet  from  the  surface.  Here  the  problem 
is  to  determine  whether  the  water  shall  be  carried  off  according  to  the 
plans  of  drainage  in  the  humid  sections  or  efforts  made  to  intercept 
the  water  as  it  comes  from  canals.  As  a  result  of  two  seasons1  field 
studies  plans  were  made  for  two  methods  of  drainage,  one  employing 
open  ditches  and  the  other  draintiles.  In  the  districts  in  Washing-- 
ton where  injury  was  caused  both  from  excess  of  water  and  alkali, 


23     :'•£':    ;::V^:::,H£ 

studies  were  made  to  determine  ^the  movements  of  tne  water  in  the 
x.il  and  to  ascertain  the  quantity  of  water  which  the  drains  must 
remove  in  order  to  keep  the  water  level  below  a  certain  level.  The 
ivports  of  the  investigations  during  1903  show  the  results  of  these 
studies  and  furnish  plans  for  the  relief  of  the  lands  now  being 
damaged. 

The  beginning  of  drainage  studies  in  the  arid  region  was  followed 
by  numerous  requests  for  advice  about  the  solution  of  drainage  prob- 
lems in  the  East.  Much  work  has  been  done  in  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and 
Illinois,  and  a  beginning  made  in  Louisiana  and  Florida.  In  Iowa 
there  are  two  drainage  problems  of  special  importance.  One  is  legis- 
lation which  will  enable  the  landowners  of  large  districts  to  combine 
in  carrying  out  comprehensive  plans  and  the  other  is  to  have  the 
plans  in  accord  with  the  best  drainage  practice.  The  expert  in  charge 
of  the  drainage  investigations  has  acted  as  an  ex-officio  member  of  a 
drainage  commission  to  frame  drainage  laws  in  Iowa  and  has  given 
advice  about  plans  in  numerous  districts.  Work  of  a  similar  character 
is  being  carried  on  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 

The  use  of  underdrains  to  prevent  hillside  erosion  is  also  receiving 
attention.  Experiments  to  determine  the  feasibility  of  this  were  car- 
ried on  in  northern  Georgia.  The  cultivation  of  cotton  on  the  uplands 
of  the  Southern  States  can  only  be  insured  by  the  adoption  of  engi- 
neering improvements  which  will  protect  hillsides  from  erosion.  This 
crop  requires  clean  culture  and  leaves  no  binding  material  in  the  soil 
to  protect  it  during  the  winter  storms.  The  farmers  of  that  section 
have  made  extensive  expenditures  in  the  construction  of  ridges  and 
terraces,  but  these  have  been  only  partially  successful.  In  many 
places  the  water  oozing  through  the  soil  on  the  ridges  crops  out  at  a 
lower  point  on  the  hillside,  and  these  seepage  spots  start  surface  wash- 
ing which  in  time  forms  deep  gullies  that  necessitate  the  abandonment 
of  the  whole  field.  To  prevent  this  tile  have  been  laid  in  such  a  way  as 
to  intercept  the  seepage  water  and  carry  it  off  into  protected  surface 
channels.  In  the  season  which  has  elapsed  since  the  experiment  began 
one  crop  has  been  raised  without  any  washing  having  occurred. 

The  demand  for  aid  and  advice  regarding  drainage  has  necessitated 
the  extension  of  this  portion  of  the  investigation  and  led  Congress  at 
its  last  session  to  give  it  greater  prominence  in  the  work.  In  nearly 
every  State  in  the  Union  there  is  a  demand  for  preliminary  surveys 
and  the  gathering  of  data  necessary  to  the  earning  out  of  drainage 
improvements  in  an  effective  manner.  The  question  of  the  adaptabil- 
ity of  different  methods  of  drainage  and  the  study  of  the  legal  and 
economic  aspects  of  its  problems  is  destined  to  form  an  important 
feature  of  this  work  for  man}T  }Tears  to  come. 


LIST  OF  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF   EXPERIMENT  STATIONS  ON 
IRRIGATION  AND  DRAINAGE-' ominuM. 

Bui.  124.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  in  Utah,  under  the  direction  of  El  wood 

Mead,  chi  by  li.  P.  Tee!  >ver,  A.  F.  Dmvnms,  J.  I). 

Stannard,  Frank  Adams,  and  (i.  L.  Sw<  1'p.  ;>^0.    Price. 

Bui.  130.  Egyptian  Irrigation.     By  Clarence  T.  Johnston.     Pp.100.    Price,  30. 
Bui.  131.  Plans  of  Structures  in  use  on  Irrigation  Canals  in  the  United  States,  from 

drawings  exhibited  by  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  at  Paris  in 

1900  and  at  Buffalo  in  1901,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  El  wood 

Mead,  chief.     Pp.  51.     Price,  60  cents. 
*Bul.  133.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  for  1902,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood 

Mead,  chi^f.     Pp.  266.     Price,  25  cents. 
Bui.  134.  Storage  of  Water  on  Cache  la  Poudre  and  Big  Thompson  Rivers.     By  C. 

E.  Tait.     Pp.100.     Price,  10  cents. 
Bui.  140.  Acquirement  of   Water  Rights   in  the  Arkansas  Valley,  Colorado.     By 

J.  S.  Greene.     Pp.  83.     Price,  5  cents. 

Bui.  144.  Irrigation  in  Northern  Italy— Part  I.     By  Elwood  3Jfcad.     In  pr 
Bui.  145.  Preparing  Land  for  Irrigation  and  Methods  of  Applying  Water.     Pre; 

under  the  direction  of  Elwood  Mead,  chief.     In  j 
Bui.  146.  Current  Wheels:  Their  Use  in  Lifting  Water  for  Irrigation.     By  Albert 

Eugene  Wright.     In  pi 
Bui.  147.  Report  on  Drainage  Investigations,   1903.  t  By  C.   G.   Elliott.     Pp.  62. 

Price,  5  cents. 
Bui.  148.  Report  of  Irrigation  Investigations  in  Humid  Sections  of  the  United  States 

in  1903,  under  the  direction  of  Elwood  Mead,  chief.     In  p' 

FARMERS'  BULLET; 

Bui.    46.  Irrigation  in  Humid  Climates.     By  F.  H.  King.     Pp.  27. 

Bui.  116.  Irrigation  in  Fruit  Growing.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  4*. 

Bui.  138.  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden.     By  E.  J.  Wickson.     Pp.  40. 

Bui.  158.^  How  to  Build  Small  Irrigation  Ditches.     By  C.  T.  Johnston  and  J.  D. 

Stannard.     Pp.  28. 
Bui.  187.  Drainage  of  Farm  Lands.     By  C.  G.  Elliott.     Pp.  40. 


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DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


12,000(11/95) 


YC   13357 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


